1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a manipulator for manipulating a pouring pipe into position beneath a metallurgical vessel, and more specifically to a manipulator for manipulating a pouring pipe from a remote substantially horizontal position into a vertical position beneath a metallurgical vessel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In steel plants, the use of uninterrupted continuous casting processes has been increasing. To assure continuity of the casting processes, it is necessary that pouring pipes for use in pouring molten metal from a metallurgical vessel to a casting mold be replaced periodically. In order to replace a pouring pipe which is in position beneath a metallurgical vessel, it is necessary that a replacement pouring pipe be accurately guided from a remote position into the position beneath the nozzle of the metallurgical vessel.
A device for interchanging pouring pipes in the above manner is disclosed in DE-AS 27 09 727. In this device, guide tracks are mounted on the opposing sides beneath the nozzle of the metallurgical vessel, and a holder having guide pins on each side thereof is provided for holding the pouring pipe. The guide pins of the pouring pipe holder are adapted to slide along the guide tracks in such a manner that the pouring pipe is transferred from a remote location in which it is substantially horizontally positioned to a substantially vertical position as it is inserted into the casting mold and beneath the nozzle of the metallurgical vessel. However, use of this device requires that the pouring pipe be manually introduced into the guide track. Such manual introduction of the pouring pipe into the guide track can be difficult and considerably dangerous. That is, under normal conditions, there is only a very narrow space available for manipulation of the pouring pipe, and also the person required to manipulate the pouring pipe is subject to very high temperatures which are necessarily present in the continuous casting process. In addition, such person is also subject to the possibility of an unanticipated spillage or other outflow of molten metal from either the metallurgical vessel or the casting mold.